Fallen
by Warriors Heart
Summary: Meadowpaw is in a bad position. She lives in the center of RiverClan camp, captured at two weeks old by Longstar. Tearpath is still desperately attempting to find her way back to her kits, but that's hard to do when one refuses to come back.
1. Prologue

The night sky was dark, and small rain clouds were beginning to gather around a bright crescent moon. The light shone down on an intruder near the entrance of ShadowClan, making his bright orange pelt look like gold.

He saw the two guards standing near the entrance. He rolled his eyes in irritation. "They're so paranoid," the tom muttered to himself, grinning at the irony. He scuttled around, making sure that the guards could hear.

"What should we do?" guard one asked. The other shook his head like he didn't know.

"Probably a mouse," guard two replied hopefully. She took a deep breath through her nose. The orange tom tensed, hoping he wouldn't be smelled. "Actually, I do smell mouse."

The she-cat walked towards him, licking her lips in anticipation of a good dinner.

The RiverClan tabby, orange pelt still glimmering, raced away from her and went to distract the other guard.

When he too was distracted by a "mouse," the RiverClan tabby snuck into camp, completely unnoticed. He took a moment to take in his surroundings. The apprentice den to his left, the nursery on his right, and the leader's den in a small cave under a ledge. Behind him was his target: the warrior's den.

The orange tabby stepped lightly inside and over a light silver she-cat to reach his mother's brother. He was wrapped protectively around another she-cat who was quietly sleeping, confident that her mate would protect her.

As the orange tom stepped around, getting a good position, he snapped a twig. Instantly a pair of eyes stared into his own blue ones.

He had not come this far to fail.

Leaping as high as he could go in the cave, he landed on the tom as he formed one last cry of alarm.

"Autumnsecret?"


	2. Chapter 1: Stormy

Meadowpaw ducked under the bright orange paw. She spun around and ran her paw down her opponents back. He yelped quietly and turned back to her. "Well done, apprentice," Autumnsecret whispered. Meadowpaw growled deep in the back of her throat and stalked back toward camp.

Autumnsecret caught up to her. "You're coming along well," he mewed kindly. She stomped farther up.

"Like you would care," she mumbled under her breath.

Once again, he caught up to her. "Really, Longstar will be impressed," he pressed on. She turned on him.

"What do you want from me?" she snarled viciously.

"Your allegiance? Your loyalty? Your love?" he suggested, pressing close to her.

She grunted in frustration and argued with herself irritably, running ahead of him. _He's a monster, he betrayed Spiralpath, he_ _betrayed ME!_

_But I still fell for him._

Meadowpaw hated admitting it but she had always felt herself drawn to the tabby warrior.

Yet she hated him.

She arrived back at camp, instantly running into the tunnels where she had found safety so many times before.

She settled down next to Seapaw and Icepaw, drawing comfort from the warmth in their bodies.

The sun was setting, but it was already dark because of storm clouds, and thunder rumbled in the distance. Slowly, the rest of her family came through the tunnels.

Spiralpath, Softmallow, Severedtail, Shadowpaw, still limping and ragged, but alive all the same, Fawnpaw, and Dapplepaw all curled up around her.

Deep in sleep, she was disturbed by constant nightmares.

Autumnsecret was next to her, licking her when she was just a kit. Then he was chasing her through a huge storm as lightning flashed and thunder boomed. He laughed. "Allegiance, loyalty, love!" he was chanting triumphantly. She was screaming and running, but he was always just a pace behind her.

She gasped and opened her eyes. She looked around. Rain was pounding on the ground above her, and lightning blinded her, the thunder following only a moment later. When her vision finally returned he was there.

She squeaked, but nobody looked up. Autumnsecret stepped closer.

"How did you get in? You're too fat to get in," she said mockingly. When Autumnsecret joined Longstar he'd become thick with the amount of food that she'd been giving him.

"Forest entrance. I dug for a while," he admitted. She took notice of his muddy brown paws momentarily. Then her eyes flashed upward.

"Why are you here?"

"I wanted to make sure you'd noticed I hadn't taken Longstar's habit of abusing you," he mewed, and he had genuine concern in his voice.

"I had," she admitted. She'd wondered why he hadn't become obsessed with marking them with his claws, and she realized it was because he still loved them all.

"Don't take advantage of it," he whispered.

She snarled. "I don't care. What you did to us hurts bad enough you may as well add some blood to go with it."

He bowed his head. "Do you love me?" he asked.

She looked straight at him. "Bite me," she replied. He pranced coolly out of the room, leaving her to her nightmares once more.


	3. Chapter 2: Sound sleep

Meadowpaw woke up and didn't feel like sleeping again. She got up, stretched, yawned, and went out to hunt. TunnelClan, as the kits called themselves jokingly, wasn't getting by on the small amount of food stolen from the prey pile. WindClan cats were small, and RiverClan fat, but they were skinnier than even the fastest WindClan cat. Their ribs stuck out extremely far, making them look unhealthy. But they were stealthy and strong.

Unfortunately, these two things wouldn't get them far without any food at all.

She crept up on a mouse, preparing to leap, when a voice spoke behind her.

"We need to talk." She landed a foot away from the mouse, and spun around to face Autumnsecret. Seeing he wasn't in a threatening pose, she watched painstakingly as the mouse skittered off into a small hole in the ground.

Irritated, she turned to find another piece of prey. "Please, Meadowpaw!" he begged. She continued forward. He jumped over her and faced her, eye to eye. She found herself staring at the gorgeous blue sapphires that danced inside his eyes. The stupid tom had a fish in his mouth, and he laid it in front of her. She pushed it away, although she found her mouth watering.

"Leave me alone," she said firmly.

"Don't make me become like Longstar."

"Do whatever you want to me traitor."

"You know you like me."

"I hate you."

"You like me."

"LEAVE ME ALONE!" She ran as fast as she could away from Autumnsecret, far into the trees until she found he was still close behind her. She was so much smaller than him, and still only four months. A voice called in front of her.

"In here!" She side-glanced and saw Seapaw's head sticking out of a hole in the ground. She passed him, spun around the tree, and crept into the rooted in hole. Her side hit the bark in the tree. Seapaw tugged the scruff of her neck hard into the shelter of the tree until they were completely hidden. _It pays off to be skinny_, she thought to herself.

"Meadowpaw!" Autumnsecret groaned angrily. The two steadied their breath to a quiet pant when they heard Autumnsecret's voice directly next to the tree.  
_He was close by_, she realized. _He must have seen be spin around the tree, but I'm safe now, thanks to_ _Seapaw_.

Her and her brother waited patiently until Autumnsecret had given up and gone back to camp. She turned around three times. Beautiful crystals had grown on the ceiling, just out of the sunlight so that they were completely concealed unless you were under the tree. Water gathered in a small pool in the corner, and a mouse was dead at Seapaw's feet. He pushed it toward her.

"Have it," he mewed simply.

She wouldn't accept anything form Autumnsecret, but this was her brother, so it was okay.

"What's with him?" Seapaw growled in a protective voice. She shrugged.

"He's a total mouse-brain," she said. Seapaw nodded his agreement. His foamy blue-green eyes scanned her, checking for injuries until he was sure she was okay. "He didn't hurt me," she reassured him. He looked skeptical but didn't push for information.

The truth was, he had hurt her, both inside and out. A large cut ran along her side, where she had scraped the tree turning around, but she'd hit it hard and it was starting to bleed. Seapaw scanned her again and found the cut. He stared at it until she noticed. "I'm fine! Really, it's not that big a deal."

Seapaw cleaned the wound and they walked back to the tunnel in RiverClan camp. Severedtail, finally the medicine cat he'd always wanted to be, patched her up.

Meadowpaw curled up, ready to fall asleep, when she felt a paw prodding her in her side. Instantly jumping to conclusions, she leapt up and prepared to attack Autumnsecret. What part of no didn't he get?

But it wasn't – it was one of the few cats who she trusted. "Seapaw? I was going to sleep!" she mewed crossly.

Seapaw, ignoring her attitude, nodded to the cave entrance. She agreed with a twitch of her tail and the two of them set off. Once in the forest, Seapaw led her to the entrance that led back in. Confused, she sat in place, swaying her tail and staring uncomprehendingly at her brother. As she stepped in the tunnel he chuckled lightly. She turned back to him. "No, watch," he said. Seapaw went over to a puddle and dipped his paw deep into it. He grimaced slightly, but came up with a paw – full of mud. He caked it around the entrance. Then he went back, collected some more, and repeated the process. Once the entrance was completely caked in mud, he took a rock and stuffed it into the mud. She started helping him until the entrance was solid and drying.

"Autumnsecret won't be able to get in now," Seapaw said. Feeling safer, Meadowpaw went back to the entrance by the lake and they started working on that one.

That night, Meadowpaw slept soundly without any sentences.


	4. Chapter 3: Softmallow

Spiralpath paced the entrance room to the tunnels in distress. A gasp came from his mate. When he turned she was sitting up in the same position as last time. "You okay?" he asked. She nodded nonchalantly and he turned away. He started to pace again.

"Calm down, Spiralpath. It's going to be fine," she reassured him.

"Nothing's right! Our plan was to dig the tunnels. We did that. Then we could escape into the woods and go back to our clans. We've totally messed up!" he stressed.

Softmallow, looking hurt, closed her eyes. Spiralpath wasn't in a sympathetic mood though. "Spiralpath, we started a family in the tunnels. We could steal fish and hide from Longstar if we wanted to, and she'd never realize our absence. She claims she took us to use us, but she just uses us so that she can threaten the other Clans. She can steal kits, she tells them. She can defeat us with the army she's building. And they don't challenge her because of it! But we can leave. All of us." She gasped again before she could start talking again, and Spiralpath turned to her.

Same position, but he could have sworn he heard her gasp. He shot his mate a questioning glance, and she returned it convincingly.

"I know, and I wish this life was what every warrior cat had, but it's not. This isn't right! We don't even know the warrior code. All we know is what Longstar tells us. We must be with a patrol of pure-bred RiverClan cats at all times to see we don't run away. We may not go anywhere out of camp without permission. If we try to escape, we will die with the Clan we run to. If there's a StarClan, where are they?" Softmallow gasped even louder this time, and when Spiralpath turned she was in an awkward position, and clearly trying to hide it.

"Are you really sure you're okay?" he asked. For the first time he noticed how heavy her breathing was. She shook her head.

Spiralpath started to panic. If Softmallow was admitting that she was in pain, then something was really wrong. He walked calmly to her side, refusing to let his fear show. "What's up?" he asked, hoping for a calm reply of 'Oh, nothing Spiralpath. I'm just fine! Really!' But instead she shook her head sadly.

"I want to leave. Go home. I miss WindClan. I hardly remember it, but I do remember the moor. I snuck out once…" she stopped and laid her head on Spiralpath's back where he was lying next to her.

"I know. I know you do. I'm really sorry, but we can't! We have to watch the kits."

"But they're… not even ours." Then she screamed. Alarmed, Spiralpath leapt out of his skin, hissing ferociously. She screamed again, louder this time, and writhed in pain.

"What's wrong? WHAT'S WRONG?" Softmallow shook her head and cried softly.

"Don't feel right! Help! Get Rosethistle, PLEASE!" Spiralpath battled out whether he should stay with her or get the medicine cat. Finally he licked her nose and ran out of the tunnel.

Longstar heard Softmallow's screams from her den. She hadn't told Autumnsecret to make her death painful, but she couldn't object, now could she? From the sound of it he'd slipped an adder into her meal. Not that she really cared. As long as Softmallow was gone, she could make sure Spiralpath wasn't planning to leave.

There was only one problem. That Meadowpaw – she was distracting her best warrior. He was too affectionate toward her. Not that he wasn't for the others. He would learn to take his anger out on them though... She'd have to do something about Meadowpaw though, in the meantime… Not really kill her, but use her as bait for Autumnsecret? Maybe… Or maybe, there really was just no other way… If she was dead she was permanently out of the way… Yes, this would be her next mission.

Kill Meadowpaw.


	5. Chapter 4: Assessments?

Meadowpaw sat quietly while she waited for her "assessment" with Longstar and Autumnsecret. She would fight each of them once, and then she would go on a hunt with them watching her. No doubt Longstar would make it difficult, despite her bad leg.

As she cleaned herself, a butterfly flew over head. She looked around and made sure no one was watching, then leapt into the air and batted at its beautifully colored wings. As she brought her prey down, Autumnsecret came around the corner. He twitched his whiskers, amused.

Meadowpaw quickly straightened up.

As she walked next to Autumnsecret, almost to the place where they would fight, he unexpectedly flipped her onto her back.

"GET OFF ME!" she squealed instantly, but Autumnsecret's paw stayed firm on top of her.

"One last chance," was all he said.

She reached up and bit his paw. He screeched and released his grip. She darted forward to the training circle where they would be fighting.

When she arrived Longstar looked up from grooming herself and smiled maliciously.

"Autumnsecret says you're good," was all Longstar said. She and Meadowpaw began circling each other.

Longstar, of course, made the first move, pouncing forward. Meadowpaw easily side-stepped her. Longstar turned back to Meadowpaw and giggled to herself.

Next, Meadowpaw stepped to the left, then to the right and went for Longstar's back. Longstar, however was ready for this move and leapt over Meadowpaw. Spinning back, Longstar brought a paw down on Meadowpaw's ribs hard.

Meadowpaw screeched, and Longstar giggled to herself again. Righting herself, she watched Longstar carefully. Her bad leg was still somewhat useless. _A weak spot_, Meadowpaw realized. _Use it,_ she thought.

Before she could decide how to use this to her advantage, she found herself pinned on the ground. Her stomach was crushed by Longstar's weight, and she found that no air was making its way through her body.

Whimpering profusely, Meadowpaw squirmed desperately to get away from Longstar. Weak spot, weak spot, she kept telling herself. She stopped struggling. Longstar laughed and insane laugh.

She heard Autumnsecret suck in his breath. Meadowpaw drew one more breath and stilled herself, praying that Longstar wouldn't be able to feel her heartbeat.

"No," Autumnsecret whispered behind her. She almost started laughing, but that would have given her away. After a couple more seconds, Longstar crawled off of her.

"Your apprentice isn't as good as you thought, Autumnsecret," Longstar mewed. Autumnsecret, to her horror, smiled.

"I gave her a message – she didn't agree to be on my team, so she is of no use to me," Autumnsecret replied.

Longstar twitched her tail. "What did you tell her?" she asked. Autumnsecret shrugged.

"Nothing important."

Then Autumnsecret came over to her and picked her up by her scruff. She made her breathing as quiet as possible.

"We should tell the tunnel cats that they'll have a feast tonight – fish, mice, and a fresh kit!" Longstar, Meadowpaw was sure, was rolling on the ground.

So far her plan was failing terribly – her goal had been to make Longstar walk back to camp, then for her to be able to give Autumnsecret a good lecture. Yeah, that was clearly working.

Nearing the camp, Autumnsecret veered off to the tunnel, throwing her roughly in. She forced herself to stay limp, and hit the ground hard.

"Hey Spiralpath! Kits! You've we brought you lunch!" then he ran off towards Longstar's den. Slowly, Shadowpaw, Icepaw, Fawnpaw, Dapplepaw, and finally Seapaw, who were all still awaiting their assessment, filed in.

They all started gasping and crying when they saw her.

When she was sure that no one, not even the guards, were watching them, she got up and shook herself. The other kits stopped crying and stared as she groomed herself, trying to get every bit of Autumnsecret's scent off of her.

Man, I guess I didn't realize just how dumb Longstar and Autumnsecret were," Seapaw whispered, smiling. The other kits all started laughing and agreeing.

"You played dead on them?" Fawnpaw asked. Meadowpaw nodded.

"Longstar was starting to beat me, and I was irritated with Autumnsecret. I kind of wanted to get him alone so that I could lecture him and give him a piece of my mind. But… well, that didn't really work."

The others looked her over.

"Yeah, no kidding," Dapplepaw said as she did a few circles around her.

Suddenly Shadowpaw, who had become the quiet one after being used as Longstar's personal dummy for such a long time, brightened up.

"Guys… guys, I have an idea!"


	6. Chapter 5: Racing

Meadowpaw darted in and out of the trees, using her distress and anger to fuel her legs. She leapt over a large, dead tree, and found herself staring into Seapaw's eyes. She didn't stop running and collided heavily into him. He giggled humorously as they rolled around in the dirt. Meadowpaw leapt backwards and took off to TunnelClan with Seapaw hot on her heels.

"Race you!" Seapaw yelled, and Meadowpaw felt a shadow cross over her blue/gray tabby back as her brother leapt over her. She squealed in delight and raced forward like a bullet. Her paws padded lightly over the dewy ground, and before she knew it, she had caught up with her lightning-streak of a brother.

His smile turned into a frown as he saw her appear next to him, but he pressed forward against his lanky legged sister.

She thought she might have seen Seapaw kicked up and something flew threw her smiling mouth. She stopped running as they neared the camp entrance and began coughing heavily, trying to dislodge it, but as she coughed and gasped, pleading with oxygen to enter her lungs, she tasted something unlike dirt or rocks. Smoke.

Tearpath's POV

Tearpath flew forward in a dazed silence and landed nimbly behind Sunstripe. Sunstripe randomly stopped fighting and lied down on the wet dirt. Tearpath allowed her adrenaline to slow and prodded her clanmate with a sheathed paw.

"No, I don't want to…" Tearpath gave up. Truth be told, she felt triumphant towards the fact that she had wedged a word out of Sunstripe at all. Those were the first words she had spoken since Snarltooth had died. The old looking she-cat lied down next to Sunstripe and comfortingly licked her ear.

"What will you do now? What if you can't fight her?" Sunstripe questioned. Tearpath tensed but couldn't be upset with Sunstripe. She had forced Tearpath to look reality in the eye, something she'd been avoiding for a while now.

"What else?" she replied. "I'm going to kill my brother's killer."

Meadowpaw's POV

Meadowpaw and Seapaw exchanged a look. He nodded to her. Sucking in a deep breath of fresh air, she looked back towards the forest she wished she could call home. Before she could have regrets she walked through the wall of flame that was rising by the minute, and into her camp of torture.

RiverClan cats were screeching fiercely at each other. Thornpad was dragging a clanmate towards the entrance, Longstar was screaming at every warrior that passed to make sure that if there were any cats who didn't make it, it was the TunnelClan cats, and Shadowface was cowering with his face in a hole. Meadowpaw rolled her eyes and took pleasure from the claw marks she made in the oaf's back.

"Uuu?" he grunted stupidly.

"Get out! Would you rather live the rest of your pitiful life with a black coat?" That got Thornpad moving. He was known for taking pride in his glossy coat.

Meadowpaw changed her coarse to something more important – making sure that Shadowpaw got out. She knew he would be weak from his still recent torture, and she wanted to make sure that he escaped safely. Most likely, of course, the TunnelClan cats, her family, would all be heading towards safety in the underground cable that lead to the lake. _Still, you can never be too safe_, she thought.

Entering, she found just what she'd expected. Nobody was there. She took the exit that led to the forest until she reached the room where she had been nursed. She was glad she'd remembered it.

"Spiralpath!" she muttered urgently.

He roused himself from what had clearly been a good dream. "Yeah?" he asked sweetly.

"There's a fire, we need to get to the lake."

He sighed. "This place always ruins my good dreams and haunts my bad ones." He reached behind him and grabbed a sleeping Shadowpaw from behind him.

"Mmmm… yess…" Shadowpaw giggled in his sleep. Meadowpaw smiled, glad he was feeling better. Slowly, Spiralpath walked back with her to the lake, passing a desperate RiverClan cat who had stuck his head through the entrance and gotten in caught there. Meadowpaw shoved her paw into his face and he toppled over and ran to safety.

Reaching the lake, they found the whole of TunnelClan, missing only one member.

Seapaw


	7. Chapter 6: Smoke

**A/N: Hey people! I would have left an author's note sooner, but up until now I'm not really sure I had much of an audience. First, I want to thank all of my positive criticism reviewers who comment on suspense, plot, and even my grammar. Second, I want to ask that if you have something against my story that you not review. (Thanks :) Alright, moving on, here's chapter six.**

Meadowpaw did a double take, praying to StarClan that she had made a mistake, that her brother was grooming himself next to her. Shadowpaw was curled up next to her with Spiralpath, and Severedtail was beside him with Icepaw, Dapplepaw, and Fawnpaw.

There was a scraping noise next to the tunnel and two awkward RiverClan apprentices, who were clearly around two months, stepped out. In moments Meadowpaw had a paw on each of them.

"Who sent you here?" she questioned furiously.

"An orange warrior sent us. He said we would be safe in the tunnel. He was right! The smoke couldn't get in there because TunnelClan doesn't have anything near the entrances, and-"

Meadowpaw's brain disconnected itself from the conversation. She turned to Fawnpaw. "Have you seen Seapaw?" she said, ignoring the fact that she knew the answer.

The shake of her sister's head was enough to send her into a chaotic panic. She shoved the two tiny kits aside and shot into the tunnel. Her footsteps were blind and random but when she came to her sense she was right where she wanted to be – in the center of the flame, right above a gray tabby kit.

She grabbed his scruff and tried to drag him away from the warrior he was helping, but it did her no good. He was insisting on helping.

"Are you out of your mouse-brained head?" she screamed. He nodded calmly. "Ugh! Come on, Seapaw, we have to GET OUT." Seapaw again nodded. "Then let's go!"

Seapaw continued to drag the warrior behind him. Seeing that he was being too stubborn to let go, she grabbed his tail and helped Seapaw drag the unconscious cat to safety.

Seapaw's fur was looking a bit black around the edges. He was coughing, hard, and was beginning to get… twitchy, almost.

Behind them, a loud creaking noise sounded, loud and clear. Meadowpaw turned from her brother to look up at the colossal tree that was beginning to get closer by the second. She dropped Shadowface's tail and shot forward, grabbing Seapaw's scruff, and rolled out of the way just seconds before the tree landed next to Shadowface, engulfing his body in a red flame.

Seapaw coughed and watched helplessly as Shadowface disappeared behind a wall of heat. "Now, come on, we can't even take as much of this smoke as he did!"

But apparently her words rang true, because at that moment Seapaw fell over in a fit of coughing.


	8. Chapter 7: Awakened

Blood began to stain the ground as Seapaw coughed, desperately attempting to regain strength. Meadowpaw pawed at his back in attempt to dislodge the smoke that was blocking his lungs. He groaned and fell over in a heap of whimpers.

"I said, let's go. But no, we had to save the guy who's just adores giving us scars. Sure, that makes sense," Meadowpaw mumbled.

"If he had just listened to m- Ahh!" Meadowpaw let out a girlish squeak as a cloud of fire erupted in front of her. She pulled Seapaw quickly behind her - painfully, miserably.

Soon, she began coughing too. Not as badly as her brother – Seapaw was still smaller than her, so she could take a little more than he could.

Meadowpaw looked around, hoping for a sign of familiarity, but she found nothing. She was in… the forest? Camp? Maybe… no, she couldn't be in the tunnels, the fire couldn't reach the tunnels.

Right?

Finally she reached a spot that looked familiar – a small cave, with red gems shining inside – crystals, reflecting the red, orange, and yellow of the flames. The place where she had hidden with Seapaw from Autumnsecret.

Autumnsecret – she'd be willing to bet that this was his fault. Ugh! How she hated him!

A cloud of smoke got caught in her throat and she gasped hopefully, but nothing happened.

A fiery crystal was the last thing she saw.

"You sure?"

"Yeah, it's kind of obvious; she's breathing, mouse-brain."

"Okay, okay, how many others did we get?"

"The only RiverClan warrior who we got woke up and ran off with his fur still on fire. We managed to get Spiralpath – I'm sure Tearpath will be overjoyed. Most of the kits were found with him by the lake except for this little one and the tabby she was with. The smoke had traveled to the lake by then, and a couple of the kits had blacked out… they were sort of trapped. We barely got them out and we lost one. We barely got Severedtail out and he might not make it – he was trying to save the little Medicine cat apprentice."

"Shiningpaw?" the first voice asked with a chuckle.

"Yeah, that's the one," voice two replied.

Meadowpaw blinked and shook herself, taking a long stretch.

"Hey look, the little blue-gray one woke up," the second voice whispered.

Meadowpaw did a small, dizzying spin and fell over, facing a jet-black tom cat. He was next to a snowy white tortoiseshell.

The young white she-cat turned to her. "Yeah, I guess she did. Told you she was breathing."

Meadowpaw did a double take. Yes, there was Spiralpath, and next to him were Shadowpaw and Fawnpaw… Seapaw was curled up next to her, but he didn't look good. His fur was tinged with black and carried a layer of soot on top of his usually gray fur.

Without acknowledging the white or black cat, she examined him carefully. One patch of fur right below his left ear was singed completely off, and the skin was burned underneath. His pads were badly charred, and his breathing came in a rapid, rise and fall of his ribs. For the first time, she noticed how skinny he was looking, even for a TunnelClan cat. She flashed back to the day when he had given her a bit of his food.

"What's your name?" the black cat asked.

Meadowpaw turned suspiciously to him. "Who are _you_?" she retorted.

They looked shocked. "Um… Well, I'm Honorheart, and… she's Timecloud," the black tom, apparently Honorheart, replied shakily.

Meadowpaw remained silent. Timecloud stepped forward a sat down next to Meadowpaw.

"What did you say your name was?"

Meadowpaw looked up into the gentle blue eyes. "Meadowpaw…"


	9. Chapter 8: Impatient

Meadowpaw paced the medicine den anxiously. Timecloud watched her from a distance.

"Honorheart went to get you some food. Are you hungry?" Timecloud asked.

"When will they wake up?" Meadowpaw growled impatiently.

Timecloud sighed. "Meadowpaw, come on, let's get out for a little while. You've been in here all day! They'll wake up, but Seapaw and Severedtail are probably exhausted," she mewed hopefully.

"Where'd you guys find us anyways? And why were you on RiverClan territory?" Meadowpaw questioned.

Timecloud twitched her tail impatiently. "I already told you, you were in a little cave and Honorheart had to pull you out. And don't look so defensive, I thought you weren't in RiverClan?" It was a question, not a statement.

"I'm not!" Meadowpaw screeched defensively. "I was just wondering!"

Timecloud laughed, glad to have found a sensitive spot in Meadowpaw's defenses. "Honorheart smelled the smoke when he was on patrol. We wanted to help but… well, after they've stolen so many of our kits… RiverClan wasn't exactly friendly towards the idea of us helping."

"Huh? They stole kits from you?"

"Well, yeah, didn't you know? How did you think you got a camp in the middle of RiverClan?"

Meadowpaw felt dizzy. "You mean… I was… STOLEN?"

Timecloud nodded simply. "Well of course! So was I. Only, I escaped with Fireprint and Tearpath. You should have seen the look on Longstar's face when – Meadowpaw?"

Meadowpaw was staring in horror at Timecloud. They stayed frozen in the same position until Honorheart walked in carrying two small rabbits. "Who's hungry?"

L

Meadowpaw licked her lips and stood up. She couldn't lie, rabbit was delicious. Timecloud noticed she was finally done. "You eat like you've never had a meal before," she said, smiling.

"I guess I haven't in… well, ever, actually. I pick a mouse here and there."

Timecloud, feeling affectionate towards the little kit, invited her on a walk.

As they trotted out of WindClan camp Meadowpaw allowed some hint of her kitten curiosity to overcome her. "So are you and Honorheart… you know, mates?" she asked.

Timecloud felt her ears grow hot. "No, Honorheart doesn't have a mate. Neither do I."

"Why not? You're so pretty! And he's so handsome!" Meadowpaw squealed. Then she looked down, feeling embarrassed.

Timecloud was amused, but the conversation made her sad. "Honorheart's mate died in a battle last Greenleaf. Her name was Preyfur."

"Oh," Meadowpaw muttered. Then she looked up. She felt like a kit!

"So what are we going to do out here! There's so much room to run and hunt and fight!" Meadowpaw mewed happily. Timecloud eyed her with interest.

"Maybe while you're here I can train you, but I'll have to talk to Sandstar about it. How old are you?" Timecloud questioned.

"Old enough to be an apprentice!" she lied. Timecloud gave her a questioning glance.

"Four months…" she muttered. Timecloud smiled.


	10. Allegiences

**A/N: Alright guys, well thank you to Icethroat21 and WildCroconaw for giving me the worst fanfiction chore EVER: Allegiences. Took me forever to come up with this many cats. But I figure you guys need it. So here, finally, are all of my future warriors.**

ThunderClan

**Leader**: Nightstar – solid black tom with yellow eyes

**Deputy**: Leopardthroat – tan and brown tortoiseshell tom with blue eyes

**Medicine** **cat**: Olivetail – average looking light brown she-cat with green eyes

**WARRIORS**

Fireprint – a light orange tabby with brown eyes

Leapwing – rusty red tom with deep, deep gray eyes; apprentice Yewpaw

Blossomfur – pretty cream she-cat with brown dappled fur

Pebbletail – blue/gray she-cat with green eyes; apprentice Mistypaw

Tawnysun – handsome tawny tom with yellow eyes

Cloudspots – white tom with blue eyes and small black speckles on his throat; apprentice Snowpaw

Pineseeds – dark brown tabby tom with green eyes

Sparrowfeather – light brown tom with a dark brown streak running down his back

Sapphireheart – beautiful blue/gray she-cat with intense sea-foam blue eyes

**APPRENTICES**

Yewpaw – blondish tom with brown eyes

Mistypaw – kind gray she-cat with long fur and green eyes

Snowpaw – bright white, almost glow-in-the-dark she-cat with black eyes

Moonpaw – yellowy she-cat with blue eyes

**QUEENS**

Redsand – light, light red she-cat with darker red tabby stripes and light yellow eyes; expecting Fireprint's kits

Paintedpelt – white she-cat with brown, ginger, black, and gray spots and brown eyes; expecting Pineseeds kits

**KITS**

Stormkit, Whitekit; Redsand's kits

Runningkit, Goldenpaw, Spottedkit; Paintedpelt's kits

**ELDERS**

Brokenfoot – extremely old tom with a white mane and a bad foot

Addertooth – rusty red tom with green eyes

Treesong – tan she-cat with lime green eyes

WindClan

**Leader**: Sandstar – dark tan tom with blue eyes and a small white diamond on his head

**Deputy**: Volefoot – black tom with a brown spot on his foot

**Medicine** **cat**: Berryheart – reddish, almost pink she-cat with brown eyes

**WARRIORS**

Honorheart – jet black tom with yellow eyes

Timecloud – snowy white tortoiseshell she-cat with bright blue eyes

Runningspirit – gray tom with a black tail tip

Threshwing – large brown tom with green eyes

Brighteye – white she-cat with ginger spots who has one green eye and one orange eye; apprentice Beaverpaw

Whiteflash – solid, bright white tom with bright green eyes

Rabbitfoot – light brown tom with white paws and black tipped ears, stormy gray eyes

Graystorm – gray tabby tom with very short fur and dark blue eyes; apprentice Badgerpaw

Mothstone – white and gold striped tabby she-cat with yellow eyes

**APPRENTICES**

Beaverpaw – almost black brown tom with a white patch over his eye and one ginger spot on his tail

Badgerpaw – black tom with a white streak running down his back and tail

**QUEENS**

Pearlfoot – ginger she-cat with one white foot and brown eyes; expecting Graystorm's kits

**KITS**

Honeykit, Briarkit ; Pearlfoot's kits

**ELDERS**

Dusteyes – blind tabby tom with white/tan eyes

Spottedfern – Pretty, friendly tortoiseshell she-cat with pretty amber eyes

Lionmane - light, light tan tom with long hair framing his face and amber eyes

Fuzzypelt – black, gray, and brown spotted tom with a crazy pelt that sticks up everywhere, and brown eyes

RiverClan

**Leader**: Longstar – ugly brown she-cat with yellow eyes and a smushed in face

**Deputy**: Oakleaf – handsome young tom with amber eyes and a ginger/ brown spotted pelt

**Medicine** **cat**: Rosethistle – amber pelted and eyed she-cat with one white spot on her tail

**Medicine cat apprentice**: Shiningpaw – pretty blonde she-cat with green eyes

**WARRIORS**

Thornpad – brown tom with a very slight limp in one foot caused by infection in his front left paw and brown eyes

Shadowface – white tom with a light gray spot covering his left face and left ear, black eyes

Mudsplotch – burly white tom which random brown spots and amber eyes

Barknose – white tom with a perfect brown circle around his nose and mouth and amber eyes

Fernears – pretty light brown she-cat with ginger ears and amber eyes

Redtail – light gray tom with yellow eyes, used to have small red spots, but they vanished as he aged

Spottedhorns – speckled ginger she-cat with green eyes

Blackmask – cream tom with a patch over each eye and his muzzle and has brown eyes

Mousefang – brown tabby tom with brown eyes

**QUEENS**

Orchidfur – pretty, cruel white she-cat with a dappled gray back and blue eyes; expecting Oakleaf's kits

**KITS**

Yellowkit, Talonkit; Orchidfur's kits

**ELDERS**

None, all are killed when they become too old to fight

ShadowClan

**Leader**: Heatherstar – kind, but stern looking brown she-cat with scary green eyes

**Deputy**: Eclipsefur – handsome gray tabby with yellow eyes

**Medicine** **cat**: Diamondpelt – gorgeous black she-cat with white speckles and blue eyes

**Medicine cat apprentice**: Mesapaw – started as a warrior named Lilypaw after her mother; known for flattening herself to blend in with the leaves, giving her her name; brown and ginger speckled she-cat with amber eyes

**WARRIORS**

Tearpath – blue/gray she-cat with soft blue eyes

Silverfawn – slender silver she-cat with brown eyes

Whitetiger – black striped white tom with deep brown eyes; apprentice Sorrelpaw

Snarltooth – black gray tom with amber eyes; apprentice Sootpaw

Squirrelfluff – brown tom with crazy fur and long fur; green eyes

Toadmud – brown tabby tom with amber eyes

Snowfeather – golden tabby she-cat with white patches on her tail and ear-tips; apprentice Rainpaw

Mossrock – gray she-cat with stormy eyes; apprentice Rockpaw

Rainstorm – blue-gray tabby with stormy eyes; apprentice Citruspaw

**APPRENTICES**

Citruspaw – bright ginger tabby she-cat with amber eyes

Rainpaw – dark gray tabby with yellow eyes

Sootpaw – black tom with blue eyes

Sorrelpaw – red she-cat with green eyes

Rockpaw – gray tom with white socked feet and black brown eyes

**QUEENS**

Sunstripe – ginger she-cat with yellowy stripes and blue eyes

Fledlingheart – black she-cat with a brown speckled back and brown eyes

**KITS**

Terrierkit, Bluekit; Sunstripe's kits to be

Iciclekit, Tawnykit; Fledlingheart's kits

**ELDERS**

Rosespots – white she-cat with tiny ginger spots all over her belly and back

Cougargold – extremely old tom with golden fur and green eyes

TunnelClan

**Leader**: Spiralpath – gray she-cat with a white streak going down his back

**Medicine cat**: Severedtail and Rosethistle

**Warriors**

Softmallow – yellowy gray she-cat with blue eyes

Severedtail – black tom with yellow eyes and a white-tipped tail

**Apprenticed kits**

Meadowpaw – creamy she-cat with ginger spots and green eyes

Dapplepaw – dappled blue/gray she-cat with amber eyes

Shadowpaw – dark gray tom with a black diamond on his head and chest

Seapaw – gray tom with sea-foam eyes

Icepaw – white she-cat with blue eyes and a gray spot on her belly

Fawnpaw – light brown she-cat with white spots on her back


	11. Chapter 9: Always?

Meadowpaw knew she was ShadowClan, and if she was allowed to go back, she'd do it in a heartbeat. But she wasn't going to lie, she was really enjoying her time in WindClan. Timecloud had promised her that they were secretly communicating with ShadowClan, and that soon Meadowpaw would be sent home with her brothers and sisters. "What about Shadowpaw and Spiralpath? What about Dapplepaw, Icepaw, and Severedtail?" she had asked.

Timecloud had admitted simply, "You're not all in the same Clan anymore. Shadowpaw and Icepaw belong to ThunderClan, and their mother, Pebbletail, is overjoyed that you're being brought home. I made sure that Fireprint and Leapwing would be their mentors too, because they've been through this. They'll be fine, I promise."

But Meadowpaw was having trouble accepting this. She couldn't leave Shadowpaw and Icepaw, and she was sure they wouldn't want for her, Dapplepaw, Seapaw, Fawnpaw, and Severedtail to leave either. They'd already lost Softmallow, their mother, and they weren't about to lose each other.

"What about Severedtail?" she questioned. Timecloud stared in agitation.

"He's in ThunderClan too! He'll be find I promise you! Plus, he can mentor Shadowpaw now!"

"Where's Dapplepaw going?"

"She's WindClan, so she's staying with us."

"Not fair! I want her to come with us! And Shadowpaw and Icepaw and Severedtail and Spiralpath!"

Timecloud brightened slightly. "Spiralpath is going with you. He's ShadowClan, and he knows it."

"Dapplepaw! Icepaw! Shadowpaw! Severedtail! Softmallow!" Meadowpaw screeched sadly.

Honorheart walked in on her kittish chant and looked confused. There was an awkward silence before Meadowpaw sniffed, "So what about Autumnsecret?"

A pause extended until the silence was deafening. "I said, so what about Autumnsecret?"

Honorheart wouldn't look her in the eye as he said, "Autumnsecret isn't even known to have survived the fire. For all we know he's dead. He made his choice. He's with RiverClan now."

Meadowpaw didn't know why she cared. After the last few moons of betrayal and lies that were caused by him, she should have hated him. But there was still that bond that all of them shared with Autumnsecret – they were TunnelClan cats at heart, and they always would be.

Tearpath felt joy, fear, and sadness wash over her at the report. Her kits wouldn't be home until next moon when WindClan would swiftly hand them over at the gathering. She had to admit – it was the perfect plan. Since RiverClan, or majority of it, had decided not to respect StarClan anymore, they wouldn't be going to the gathering. WindClan would simply hand all the kits to their Clans, returned at last to the worrying mothers and fathers. Besides, it would be nice to see all of her old friends: Fireprint, Leapwing, Honorheart, Timecloud, Preyfur – no wait, not Preyfur – and… was that really it? Sadness again panged her when she realized it was. At one time Preyfur and Snarltooth would be on the list too, but now both of them were gone and… it made the list seem so much shorter.

But above all, she was excited to have her kits back. They'd be so grown up! Spiralpath and Autumnsecret would still be her kits though.

Always, right?


End file.
